After two decades of investment in high-value, Japanese Wagyu cattle, Australian producers are starting to reap the rewards.

"I guess 10 years ago, a full-blood Wagyu carcass might have been worth $3,000 to $4,000, now it could be worth $6,000 to $8,000," said Scott de Bruin who runs one of the largest full-blood herds in the country at Mayura Station in South Australia's southeast.

Wagyu covers several breeds of Japanese cattle.

When production started here in the 1990s, many thought it would go the way of other fads that were around then, like the failed ostrich industry.

But Australia now has the biggest herd of Wagyu, outside of Japan.

And the company that owns about half the animals says the returns are worth the high costs.

"It's one of our more profitable streams. It's one of the front-runners." said Greg Gibbons from AACo which has more than 40,000 full-blood and crossbred Wagyu on grain in its feedlots.

There is room to build on those returns if Japanese prices are anything to go by.

Mr de Bruin, who is also the president of the Australian Wagyu Association's council, says carcasses in Japan fetch anything from $15,000 to $30,000.

"They've been producing Wagyu for a long time. It's very much a luxury item," he said.

"In Australia, it's still in its infancy stages and still developing its international recognition."

But the industry says major developments in animal breeding is helping propel locally produced Wagyu onto the world stage.

Breeding better beef bloodlines

Australia's Wagyu herd was founded on live animals and genetic material imported from Japan in the '90s.

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